Homemade Bird Feeders as a Craft for Kids

Andra Land

When your children take an interest in wildlife, tell them that they can make their own snacks for birds without purchasing a feeder from a store. Make time to craft simple bird feeders with your children. Even the smallest fans of feathered friends can participate in creating bird feeders to attract backyard visitors.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

If you have a pine tree near your home, check the ground around it for pine cones to use for a bird feeder. Pine cones are also available for purchase where craft items are sold. Tie a 12-inch loop of yarn around the pine cone so you can hang it in a tree when it is finished. Give your child a butter knife and let her spread peanut butter over the outside of the pine cone. Pour birdseed on a paper plate. Ask the child to roll the peanut butter coated pine cone in the birdseed. Hang the birds' treat on a sturdy tree branch.

Water Bottle Bird Feeder

Use any size empty, dry water bottle and an unsharpened pencil to make a bird feeder craft with children. Before beginning the craft with a child, remove all labels from the bottle and use a sharp craft knife to poke two holes 3 inches from the bottom of the bottle, large enough to slide the pencil through. Have the child insert the pencil through the bottle; the ends of the pencil should stick out from the bottle to become perches for birds. Cut a 1/2-inch diameter circle above each perch. Wind a 12-inch length of yarn around the bottle neck, then tie it in a loop to hang the feeder. Outside, remove the bottle cap and fill the bottle with bird seed. Some of the seed will begin to spill out of the holes above the perches. Replace the lid and hang the feeder in a tree.

Breakfast Bird Feeder

After breakfast, show your child how to make a bird feeder from foods that people eat to start their day. Let your child string circle-shaped cereal onto a 24-inch length of yarn. When he has strung 20 pieces of cereal, poke a hole in the centre of a half slice of unbuttered toast, then string it onto the yarn. Continue with more cereal and toast until you are left with 3 inches of yarn at each end. Tie the yarn together, then hang the birds' treat in a tree.

Bread-Shaped Bird Feeder

Use cookie cutters and a few slices of bread to make bread-shaped bird feeders. Using the cookie cutters, let your child cut two or three shapes from slices of bread. Poke a hole near the top of each bread shape, then loop a 6-inch length of yarn through the hole and tie it at the top. Allow the bread shapes to dry for a day or two. Let your child spread peanut butter on the bread shapes, then press birdseed into the peanut butter. Hang the feeders in a tree.

Land, Andra. "Homemade Bird Feeders as a Craft for Kids" last modified May 13, 2017. https://www.ehow.co.uk/info_7747006_homemade-bird-feeders-craft-kids.html

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About the Author

Andra Land has been a freelance writer since 2010. Her work draws from experience in early childhood education, curriculum development and home and family management. Before beginning a career teaching children, Land studied communications at the University of Indianapolis.